The MSI GS60 Ghost Pro delivers top-notch performance in an under-$2,000 gaming laptop that's pleasingly thin, but subpar battery life means you'll need to stick close to a power source.

The MSI GS60 Ghost Pro (002) ($1,699.99) is one of the more attractive gaming laptops around, combining a slim look with fast gaming graphics and a nice suite of features. It's capable of running most titles at or near the highest settings at 1080p, offers plenty of storage, and looks good while doing it. There are some drawbacks, though, as the battery life is short and performance is closer to 30 frames per second (fps) than 60fps at the highest settings, which might be unappealing at this price.

Design and FeaturesSleek and thin, the MSI GS60 Ghost Pro does not look much like a stereotypical hulking gaming laptop. At 0.78 by 15.35 by 10.47 inches (HWD) and with a 15.6-inch screen, it's still pretty wide but very thin, and weighs only 4.57 pounds. The Acer Predator 15 (G9-591-74KN)is significantly heftier at 1.52 by 15.39 by 11.79 inches and just over 8 pounds despite sharing the same screen size, while the Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro (VN7-591G-70JY) is much more similar at 0.94 by 15.3 by 10.1 inches and 5.3 pounds. The marker to beat in gaming portability, the 2016 Razer Blade, is a 14-inch laptop measuring 0.7 by 13.6 by 9.3 inches and weighing 4.26 pounds, so this stacks up well given the larger screen. On the other end of the spectrum, our Editors' Choice, the MSI GT72 Dominator Pro G-1438 is a massive 17.6-inch laptop at 1.89 by 17 by 11.75 inches and 8.5 pounds.

Aside from the bottom panel, which is black plastic, the entire body is made of black brushed aluminum. Unlike the MSI GS40 6QE Phantom, which features some red accents all over, the only red on the Ghost Pro is located on the lid's MSI logo. It's an attractive look, and the body feels well made and sturdy. The keyboard and touchpad are set in a slight indentation in the keyboard deck, above which rest the speaker grille and Power button. The touchpad (offset to the left) feels nice to use, offers smooth tracking, and is bordered by a classy reflective silver trim. The Dynaudio speakers are somewhat disappointing—in our testing, sound was muffled and didn't get particularly loud, even at maximum volume. This can by tweaked with the included Nahimic software; with it, I was able to make the sound louder and clearer, but never get it great.

The SteelSeries-developed keyboard features a number pad, and although the keys feel somewhat gummy, they generally provide good feedback. Through the free SteelSeries Engine software, you can tweak quite a lot about the backlit keys across three zones. You can choose colors and plenty of effects, including lighting that responds to audio, and it's all fairly easy to manage after a slight learning curve. Additionally, you can remap keys and set macros through separate profiles that launch for specific applications of your choosing.

The 1,920-by-1,080-resolution display is clear, if unspectacular (the system is also available with a 4K screen). Despite the In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology, I felt the viewing angles were only okay, in part due to the anti-reflective coating. It cuts down on glare, but somewhat dulls the image—not a problem unique to this system, and I think it makes image quality suffer. Still, the picture is crisp and colors are vibrant. Some gaming systems boast 2K, 3K, or even 4K screens, but 1080p is still the sweet spot for modern gaming laptops, as the components struggle to provide smooth frame rates at the highest settings on those resolutions. Most are in agreement with this line of thinking, as the Phantom, GT72 Dominator Pro, and Predator 15 all share the Ghost Pro's resolution. Only the Razer Blade and the V 15 Nitro bump things up to 3,200 by 1,800 (QHD+) and 4K, respectively, which causes gaming performance to suffer—we still recommend lowering the resolution to 1080p if you'd prefer to play games at the highest settings.

Port options are impressive, especially for such a slim system. MSI managed to pack an Ethernet port, a Mini DisplayPort connector, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, and a USB-C port on the right side. On the left, there's a Kensington security slot, two USB 3.0 ports, a microphone jack, and a headphone jack. Storage is similarly notable for a compact laptop: There's both a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD) and a 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive on board. That's appealing for faster boot speeds and space to store your games, and laptops this slim don't usually offer both. The Blade is a good example of this, as it includes a 256GB SSD only. As for other features, the Ghost Pro includes a 1080p webcam and Bluetooth, and is supported by a two-year limited warranty.

Performance Our Ghost Pro review unit is equipped with a 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M graphics, and 16GB of memory. On the PCMark 8 Work Conventional test, it scored 3,255 points, which falls in behind the MSI Phantom (3,307), the Predator 15 (3,382), and the GT72 Dominator Pro (3,726), but ahead of the Razer Blade (2,886). All of these systems scored similarly on the multimedia tests, with quick times on the Handbrake and Photoshop tests, and only the GT72 scored meaningfully higher on CineBench.

Gaming and 3D results matter most for this category, and with them the Ghost Pro did well. On the 3DMark Cloud Gate and Fire Strike Extreme tests, it scored 20,466 and 3,386 points, respectively. Those scores beat almost all of the competition—the GT72 scored higher on Fire Strike (4,296) and the Predator 15 scored higher on both (22,872 on Cloud Gate; 4,355 on Fire Strike). On the Heaven and Valley gaming tests on top quality settings at full HD resolution, the Ghost Pro averaged 39fps and 44fps, respectively. The GT72 and Predator, with their 980M graphics cards, surpassed 50fps, but they are pricier. The Ghost Pro is able to run the majority of modern games in full HD on the highest settings, but the most demanding titles will require you to turn down some graphics options to stay at or around 30fps.

Battery life isn't great. The laptop lasted just 2 hours, 31 minutes, which is short for a smaller laptop running at 1080p. The GT72 lasted 3:25, the Razer Blade 5:04 (at QHD+), the Phantom 4:47, and the Predator 15 at 6:38. It's disappointing that a smaller, more portable laptop isn't that useful away from the charger, but most gaming will likely take place while plugged in anyway.

ConclusionThe MSI GS60 Ghost Pro is an appealing laptop, providing high-end gaming performance in a svelte build. It has a wide array of port options and a surprising amount of storage space, rounded out with extra pluses like customizable backlighting. The display is nice, though, while the speakers are subpar and the short battery life takes away much of the reason to have a smaller system. The 970M graphics won't get you near 60fps (and may not guarantee 30fps in cutting-edge or future titles for long), so it's hard to ultimately recommend laying out the asking price. The MSI GT72 Dominator Pro G-1438 is more expensive, but the uptick in performance is clear while remaining at midrange pricing, and the 980M is more future proof. For these reasons, plus a larger screen and longer battery, the GT72 Dominator Pro remains our Editors' Choice, but I'd suggest the Ghost Pro if you're looking to spend a few hundred dollars less and aren't as concerned with the highest frame rates.

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About the Author

Matthew Buzzi is a Hardware Analyst at PCMag, focusing on laptops and desktops with a specialty in gaming systems and games. Matthew earned a degree in Mass Communications/Journalism and interned for a college semester at Kotaku, writing about gaming before turning it into part of his career. He spends entirely too much time on Twitter (find him @M... See Full Bio

MSI GS60 Ghost Pro (002)

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